Do you have access to natural gas?

Bratkinson wrote:I hooked up to gas when one of my friends said that the gas company was making the connection to the street for free. That alone saved me about $1000...and that was in 2000. I put in a high efficiency gas furnace and gas water heater at that time.

It was 4 years ago that as the price of gas started climbing, I switched to coal. Loved it immediately. But as the cost of gas has dropped and dropped, I carefully weighed my costs. 2 seasons ago, I figure using coal cost about $100 more than gas. I didn't care. The comfort of steady temperature in the house was well worth the $100.

But the cost of gas keeps falling. This past season, I heated with coal 12/10 - 3/15. That was $900 for 3 tons of coal here in Western MA. Just to get a 'benchmark', I kept my gas furnace set for a constant 70 for the past month and just got the bill...$100. That was with temps in the mid 20s to mid 40s except for a day or two. So, I'll say double that for 10s to 30s in the 3 coldest months. That's still a savings of $300 for the season if I use gas without the 'set back' thermostat I have. Call it $400 or more with the setback 'stat. As a result, I think I've heated with coal for the last time. I'll definitely miss it. The cost difference is too great to ignore.

BUT...I still have about 400 pounds just in case of another week-long power outtage like we had for the Halloween surprise of 2011! It'd take me about 30 minutes to 'get back online' again with the coal. But as I'm painting everything on the inside for long-term rust-free storage, I'd have to wait until night to fire up as it will stink and smoke something fierce for an hour or so!

N/gas is absurdly low and the *censored* is gonna hit fan soon! So I suggest you hang onto to your coal quips because its only a matter of time... Oil prices are rediculous high and gas will eventually be on par again (after they have secured all the folks into converting again). This is like a never ending cycle that has gone on for decades & decades to keep "the man down" Coal on the other hand is a constant and always has been and allows to "keep the man up" ... next on the list is ripping out all the comcast wires out of my property then next if i get ambicious is a wind turbine or maybe some panels .... as a great man once said.... "I have a Dream"!

Natural gas is right in front of this property but it is a private enterprise with a dedicated load.It is unavailable to any of the local residents,and I am sorry about that. Natural gas is an incredible fuel with very little downside. Coal is my salvation at this point because I cannot afford the oil truck and that piece of paper it leaves behind. I am grateful to have access to coal. Mike

A small piece of our zip code has natural gas...utility used to be a privte company, but was sold to a biggie.It's coverage is just within the small town area...maybe 100 homes...we are some 4 miles away into the countyside.Way too many mountains and hollows to ever expect service to be extended to these parts.

But, due to our zip code, we get telemarketer phone calls daily offering us to sign up for discounted gas rates.

Started last season with 800 lbs of coal and it was gone in a little over a week. Trying to heat this 2400 sq. ft. garage. It is all stone and brick. No insulation of the walls. The issue comes when it gets cold and the walls get cold. It takes a lot to keep it warm. I lose too much radiational cooling. Landlord ran a powder coating operation here before me and he would just run the first batch through the oven in the morning and have heat all day. He never ran just the heat.

He could not tell me how much NG would cost for heat so I did the coal thing the first year and had that 800 lbs left over. After blowing through the 800 lbs, I turned on the gas and never looked back. As we know coal takes too long to ramp up so I had to keep the shop temp up 24/7.

But the beauty is the heat is 2 seperate NG Infared heaters. I control one with the Honeywell WIFI programmable thermostat. Slicker than crap !!!! I have the ability to monitor the temps worldwide through the interwebs......... It is nice waking up on a Saturday or Sunday and deciding to come in to the shop and being able to have it warm by the time I get here.

The only problem I have with the damn thermostat right now is the high temp alarm system keeps notifying me that the temps inside the shop right now are over 90....... and it keeps reminding me every damn hour !!!!!!!

Natural gas is not available for me. My choices are propane, oil or electric which are all three times the expense of coal. I have the option to burn wood too but we all know that's not very much fun hahaha. I'm glad I found coal and was determined to make it work, and it works great lol of course now I'm singing to the choir. It's also comforting to know that my basement isn't gonna fill up with propane and decimate my house with my family in it. Seems like every year I hear about a house exploding from a gas or propane leak. Sure coal isn't risk free either, but as long as you pay attention I would say it's pretty safe.

have gas, heat with coal...Gas is for the cook stove, BBQ, dryer and DHW...Have a generator or three kicking about that need a fuel source...Get my coal on the cheap...can not do the same with gas...no shale formations on The Cape...A few dumps, garbage that is...Do my own Surburban shallow mines...Barter for the rest...